The invention relates generally to injector and imaging equipment for performing diagnostic imaging on a patient, and more particularly to an interface device for facilitating communication between an injector device and imaging equipment.
In many medical diagnostic procedures, a physician or other person injects a patient with a fluid, such as a contrast media, that is detectable with diagnostic imaging equipment. In recent years, a number of injector-actuated syringes and powered injectors for pressurized injection of fluids have been developed for use in diagnostic imaging procedures such as angiography, computed tomography, ultrasound, and NMR/MRI. In general, the powered injectors and imaging equipment may be monitored and operated with separate interfaces.
The imaging equipment may expose a patient to a determined amount of energy after injection of the fluid. In many circumstances it may be desirable to synchronize the timing of the injection to the exposure of imaging energy. For instance, during a computed tomography (CT) scan, a patient may be initially administered a specified volume of contrast media, (approximately 100 cc) at a desired flow rate (e.g., approximately 3 cc/sec) intravenously using an injector. Depending upon the fluid dynamics of the contrast media being administered to the patient, the particular physiology of the patient, and the anatomical region of the patient being imaged, the patient may be exposed to the imaging equipment's energy for some optimal period of time. The use of separate interfaces for both the injector and the imaging equipment may make synchronization between the devices difficult.
In general, the injection device and the imaging equipment may be located in an imaging room, and the interfaces may be located in a separate imaging control room. The combination of the imaging room and the imaging control room is commonly referred to as an imaging suite. User interface controls for the injector device and the imaging equipment may be primarily, but not always be limited to features associated with patient set-up prior to, or during the early part of exposing the patient to the energy of the imaging equipment. To perform the diagnostic procedure, clinician(s) in the imaging control room may have to program, initiate, monitor, control, and terminate the imaging procedure on two different interfaces. In some cases it may be necessary for the clinician(s) to monitor and control the two interfaces concurrently. There may be situations where the lack of synchronization may result in starting the imaging equipment too early or too late. As a result, image quality may be poor and it may be necessary to repeat the procedure. Restarting the procedure may not desired because it makes the overall process more expensive, less efficient, and the patient may have to be re-exposed to the imagining equipment energy and a re-dosing of injected contrast media.
Thus, there still exists a need for a device and method for concurrently monitoring and controlling an injector device and imaging equipment from a single interface.